Public Forum

7 Comments

Jay Bartelon April 26, 2017 at 1:49 am

I recently saw a news report on TV about a proposed treatment facility in Bridge Creek for individuals with addictive problems and the public outcry was “NOT HERE”. I am the board chairman of such a facility in NW Oklahoma. I believe the reason people don’t want such a facility is they haven’t thought thru their response. The individuals that go to such places are generally wanting help and are there to get past this stage in their lives. Residents of such facilities that do not comply with requirements of the program are generally removed and must find housing elsewhere. The more dangerous element are the ones still on the street pushing and using in your neighborhoods. I have seen instances where the real problem lived next door to the individuals making the greatest protest about such facilities and programs. I urge you to take some time and think about this question: “Would you rather have the user on the street using and selling or in a structured program getting help?” Sincerely, Jay Bartel

Who ever wrote the story in yesterday’s paper about the former legion leader David Kellerman should be fired allowing the legion state commander to use your paper to grind his personal axes with me kellerman how can u look at your kids or grandkids and be proud of what you do it’s funny you print the story two months after the man was charged but the day after the legion commander files a civil suit against mr kellerman and the commander requested a jur for the civil trial so the paper would not be trying to hurt his chance at his constitutional right to a fair trial the legion commander cares nothing h about that he dislikes mr kellerman for being honest about the legion in mustang u see them at wal mart once a year trying to raise money for the hotel rooms and whatever at the state convention other than that the American legion does nothing in mustang the same 3 or 4 people sit atop wont let go cause they like them free hotel rooms but you need to investigate a story if your gonna write it and consider your self a publication cause right now it’s being run like a tabloid why did u not tell the readers that the two investigating agencies the mustang pd and dhs both ruled that there was no evidence to file charges on. Mr kellerman the crooked da the same one that had the fake cop harassing mr kellerman by the way the man got ten years for being a fake cop did the times report that’and only did 6 months what a crooked county but the da presses charges on him anyway just to hurt him financially and go try and further damage his reputation cause your all crooked does anyone even care he has an 11 year old son that goes to mustang schools well I knkw mr kellerman and he would never do anythjng like that to a child wish I could say the same for all the people doing what u all are doing I hope u all get fired and someone needs to throw the Canadian county da in jail I hope u go back to being a repeatable paper if not I will cancel my subscription immediately respectfully submitted by stop media and county corruption

In his effort to make us all feel better about the ‘slush fund’ in congress, Markwayne Mullen was wrong on a couple of levels.

1) He says it is ok since only a very small amount of that $17.1 million was used to settle cases of sexual harassment. He couldn’t be more wrong. If a single penny of taxpayer money was paid to settle claims of wrongdoing that is wrong. Personally, I think it should be a crime!
2) If damages were paid to settle claims of harassment, whether sexual or other, or discrimination, or any other wrongdoing, those damages should be paid by the wrongdoer. I fail to see any reason taxpayers should be stuck with this tab.
Oh, well, that’s just me. I’m so aggravated that such a ‘Slush Fund’ should even exist and the idea that lawmakers have been sticking taxpayers with that kind of expense – and just because they can – is just appalling to me. It makes me wonder what other kind of dirty secrets are in that swamp.

so Bev for district 47??????
Tired of seeing all this she is so honest!
Guess nobody dug into their buisness and seen that they were busted by the labor commisiion for paying people under the table!!!!!

October 19, 2018
RE: The recent death of Alexander Lindahl, age 24, north of Okarche, Oklahoma at the hands of five Canadian County Deputies and establishment of a foundation to develop and provide technology to reduce the number of car chases ending in death.
Media coverage of the shooting death of the young Native American struggling with learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, PTSD and panic attacks has been extensive, but in some cases misleading. Statements by Canadian County Sheriff West in defense of the five deputies acting outside their jurisdiction sometimes changed to create more questions than answers and the full story of the young man’s relationship with Canadian County officials was lost in the confusion.
In initial interviews, the Sheriff stated that five Canadian County Deputies pursued the stolen Braum’s truck driven by the victim northbound through Okarche, Oklahoma on Highway 81 into Kingfisher County and originally estimated the speed of the truck at near one-hundred miles per hour with estimates later revised to “over” one-hundred miles per hour. The Sheriff indicated the speeding vehicle was deemed a danger to public safety when the victim began passing cars on the shoulder and his deputies “made the decision to “End this right here.”
Reports from the scene and ruts on the right shoulder of the highway show two cars exited the highway side by side indicating the truck was forced off the road likely by deputies who according to Sheriff West also flattened the truck’s tires with gunshots at the time it was immobilized by mud at the roadside.
Almost imperceptible in photos, the center median at the scene consists of a steep incline toward the southbound lane of traffic. After leaving the shoulder, the truck apparently crossed the highway to ascend the incline of the median. At that point, the truck, was apparently driven to near the top of the median before continuing sideways on the hill with the truck leaning downward toward the passenger side. After traveling a short distance sideways and northward along the side of the incline, the truck was driven downhill again toward the northbound lane of the highway where it became stuck in the mud at a roadside drain and immobilized.
According to Sheriff West, at that point, against the gravity of the truck’s tilt and the gravity of its direction of its travel, the victim exited the disabled truck brandishing an object termed a firearm before being shot to death by Canadian County deputies. The gravity of the direction of the ascending truck plus the tilt of the truck sideways toward the passenger side made lifting the driver’s side door to exit the vehicle extremely difficult.
Though pieces of shattered windshield remained at the site, Only Patrina Adger, reporting from the scene for Channel Five News noted the windshield of the truck had been shattered. When the issue of the shattered windshield was questioned, the unlikely possibility of one stray bullet shattering a reinforced windshield was proposed. Later another unlikely story was issued stating the victim exited the truck brandishing what was deemed a firearm then re-entered it to be shot to death through the windshield. No other explanation of the shattered windshield has been offered.
Wounds indicate two bullets pierced Alexander’s body. One bullet apparently entered the little finger of his right hand and exited through the middle finger eliminating his grip on either an object deemed a firearm or the steering wheel of the vehicle as it ascended the median. A second bullet entered the victim’s mid chest and exited under his left arm resulting in his death.
No explanation was offered as to why, if the victim was, in fact, brandishing a weapon, the killing shot was fired after the real or imagined firearm had been shot from his hand ending any threat to officers.
When combined with the unexplained shattered windshield, the possibility of the victim’s being shot while holding the steering wheel inside the truck becomes a realistic possibility and leads to the question of why officers found it necessary to fire the killing shot after any real or imagined “firearm” had been removed from his hand. If the first shot killed the victim, why was the disarming shot fired as the weapon no longer posed a threat?
The victim’s death in Okarche was far from Alexander’s first encounter with Canadian County and Mustang law enforcement. Alexander’s involvement with Mustang police and Canadian County deputies began long before his death. From his teens, Alexander was repeatedly accosted and searched, almost always without probable cause. He was frequently taken to headquarters to be questioned then released when no evidence of a crime could be produced.
The Mustang News apparently acting on reports from Canadian County sources described Alexander at age twenty-four, as having a “lengthy criminal record including sexual assault.” At no time was Alexander charged with or convicted of sexual assault. His so-called criminal record consists of juvenile offenses and one prison term beginning in 2013 after he took alcohol to a party hosted by a seventeen-year old and was charged with “Distributing Alcohol to a Minor.” He was sentenced by Canadian County Judge McCurdy to four years in prison and released in 2016.
Beginning in his teens, Alexander was stopped repeatedly by Canadian County deputies and Mustang police. After a severe beating and the frequent police encounters his PTSD was worsened by a gang attack while in prison for “providing alcohol to a minor.” Alexander suffered PTSD and panic attacks. Still in his teens, after completing a residential treatment program, he returned to Mustang where he was stopped by officers without probable cause at least twelve times over a short period of time as he walked around town seeking employment. Mustang police and Canadian County law enforcement have been overheard saying they “We know Alex on sight and intend to see him behind bars.”
In October 2016, after serving three years of his four-year prison sentence, Alexander suffered a near fatal attack by a prison gang in which his throat was cut at the site of two major arteries. After emergency surgery to correct his life endangering injuries, he became a medical liability to the prison system and was released to attempt to re-structure his life.
Alexander’s frequent law enforcement encounters occurred especially at any time he was in a position to achieve his dream of becoming gainfully employed. Occasionally jailed or fined for obscure offenses, he was frequently threatened with confinement, and manhandled by arresting officers. Over the past two years after leaving prison Alexander did all he could to avoid the panic attacks of PTSD while also attempting to re-structure his life. Despite continued needless and illegal encounters with Mustang and Canadian County officials, he fathered a child and was earning an income by retrieving and repairing items from dumpsters for sale online, when he was arrested and fined $1,000 for taking the dumpster items which unknown by him was declared illegal. Despite the discouraging incident, he sold his dog’s puppies to purchase a car, had scheduled a second interview for a reliable job and was on his way to becoming a “trustworthy father” to his one-year old daughter.
His next heart-breaking encounter with Mustang police came one week before his death as he again attempted to become employed and set his life right. Despite panic attacks from PTSD and harassment by law enforcement, he had scheduled a second interview for a steady job when, while parked with a young friend on a darkened side street in a car recently purchased with income from the sale of his puppies, he was again accosted by Mustang police. As witnessed by the terrified young lady at the scene, he was held in a headlock, punched in the throat and told by one of the two arresting officers. “I’m going to kill you.” His car was illegally searched and seized. He was arrested and jailed for possession of brass knuckles deemed a deadly weapon in a violation of his parole, destining him to return to prison.
Alexander’s death is a horrific loss to all who knew and loved him. It is another in a long list of needless killings of Oklahomans by adrenalin fueled officers in needless car chases that far too often end in fatal crashes or shooting deaths.
A foundation is being formed in Alexander’s name to purchase technology presently in development to bring vehicles to a slow stop in order to prevent future deaths from Oklahoma’s far too frequent and fatal car chases.